Franchesca Ramsey rightfully calls out people who can't pronounce names on MTV's 'Decoded'

If middle schoolers can pronounce "Fyodor Dostoevsky" correctly, then they should be able to pronounce "Mamoudou" correctly, too. That's the underlying point of the latest segment of MTV's Decodedon name mispronunciations.

Host Franchesca Ramsey brought in several individuals who constantly have to deal with people mispronouncing their names, and explained — in detail — how not caring to learn how to say their name accurately is an insult to them as a person.

The episode starts out with five individuals introducing themselves and breaking their names down phonetically — and sarcastically — to give a glimpse of their daily routine when meeting new people.

"My name is Wanjiko," one person said. "So, that's like the number one, and a letter G, and "co" like company in one word."

"My name is Wanjiko. So, that's like the number one, and a letter G, and 'co' like company on one word.Source: MTV/YouTube

Then the rest of the episode breaks down misrpronouncers to four different types: gracious misrpronouncers, the mumblers, the nicknamers and then there's the "whatever" people.

The gracious ones are people who consciously try to pronounce names correctly, but have a difficult times. They're cool. The mumblers are people who, as you expect, mumble constantly when trying to say your name. The nicknamers are individuals who assign you a nickname to avoid pronouncing your name.

"There are two types of people that are nicknamers," Mamoudou explained. "There's the people who give you the shortened version of your name like, 'hey mama!' That's not my name."

"Then there's people who give you the English version of your name," Mamoudou added. "Like 'hey Martin!' I didn't have a dream."

"My name is Mamoudou," he said said. "Not Armadillo. Not Marmaduke. Not Moomoo. Not Moomom."

The "whatever" people are the most intolerable for the cast. They are individuals who don't even try to learn or pronounce your name, and then when they're corrected, they brush it off with a "whatever."

The stars of the video bring up a valid point: having your name constantly mispronounced can make you feel dehumanized.

"If you get your name mispronounced all the time, it makes you feel like less than an individual, because you have to respond to all these things that are not your name," one woman said.

"If you don't say my name correctly, it's basically like saying I don't care about you as a person," a man said.

Sarah is a staff writer for Identities at Mic. She writes about religion, race, sexuality and where it all intersects with culture. She occasionally performs stand up comedy and is incredibly defensive for Kanye West. You can reach her by email: sharvard@mic.com